duncan228
06-24-2009, 10:06 PM
Nuggets from the Jefferson trade (http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/courtside/2009/06/nuggets-from-th.html)
By Jeff McDonald
More odds and ends on the Jefferson trade ...
• The move basically takes the Spurs out of the running for the primo free-agent class of 2010. The Spurs front office, of course, knows this. They figure Richard Jefferson is probably better than any player they might have wooed next summer.
"I'm thrilled to get a player the caliber of Richard now," coach Gregg Popovich said. "When you've got an opportunity to win a championship, you've got to go after it. You can't just bank on someone leaving their team and coming to us. I think a lot of that is pie in the sky, if you're going to put all your through into just getting that one max player."
• The move also leaves the Spurs woefully short on big men for the time being. Come July 1, the only bigs under contract will be Tim Duncan, Matt Bonner and Ian Mahinmi. The Spurs are aware of this, too. They figure it will be easier to sign quality big men during the summer than a swingman the caliber of Jefferson.
"There are more names out there at four that we like than there are at the three, as far as free agents go," Popovich said.
• One player who might be tapped to fill the Spurs frontcourt void: Fabricio Oberto. He could be headed back to the Spurs after Detroit waives him.
• One player unlikely to be tapped to fill the frontcourt void this summer: Tiago Splitter. Spurs general manager R.C. Buford says he is approaching the offseason under the assumption Splitter will still be playing in Spain for at least one more season.
• Jefferson is most well-known as a scorer — he averaged 19.6 points as the only healthy scoring option in Milwaukee next season. The Spurs are going to ask him to step up his game defensively. Popovich wants Jefferson to defend the other team's best player on a nightly basis.
Jefferson, who showed flashes of that defensive ability earlier in his career, says he is up for the challenge.
"It takes just as much effort to score as it does to defend," Jefferson said. "Now that I won't be needed to score 25 points for my team to have a chance, I can go out there, put up whatever numbers come my way, and really focus on the defensive end."
• Jefferson got some bad press as a malcontent early in his lone season with Milwaukee last year. He swears that he is not one to rock the boat.
"There was a little stuff made about me being unhappy, but that was more (about) just being traded from New Jersey," Jefferson said. "I really would have loved to end my career there. When I got traded, I was a little upset. It had nothing to do with the city, or the people. After I got over that shock, I started to enjoy myself."
Reportedly, several of his Milwaukee teammates — including Charlie Villanueva and Andrew Bogut — were sad to see Jefferson go.
By Jeff McDonald
More odds and ends on the Jefferson trade ...
• The move basically takes the Spurs out of the running for the primo free-agent class of 2010. The Spurs front office, of course, knows this. They figure Richard Jefferson is probably better than any player they might have wooed next summer.
"I'm thrilled to get a player the caliber of Richard now," coach Gregg Popovich said. "When you've got an opportunity to win a championship, you've got to go after it. You can't just bank on someone leaving their team and coming to us. I think a lot of that is pie in the sky, if you're going to put all your through into just getting that one max player."
• The move also leaves the Spurs woefully short on big men for the time being. Come July 1, the only bigs under contract will be Tim Duncan, Matt Bonner and Ian Mahinmi. The Spurs are aware of this, too. They figure it will be easier to sign quality big men during the summer than a swingman the caliber of Jefferson.
"There are more names out there at four that we like than there are at the three, as far as free agents go," Popovich said.
• One player who might be tapped to fill the Spurs frontcourt void: Fabricio Oberto. He could be headed back to the Spurs after Detroit waives him.
• One player unlikely to be tapped to fill the frontcourt void this summer: Tiago Splitter. Spurs general manager R.C. Buford says he is approaching the offseason under the assumption Splitter will still be playing in Spain for at least one more season.
• Jefferson is most well-known as a scorer — he averaged 19.6 points as the only healthy scoring option in Milwaukee next season. The Spurs are going to ask him to step up his game defensively. Popovich wants Jefferson to defend the other team's best player on a nightly basis.
Jefferson, who showed flashes of that defensive ability earlier in his career, says he is up for the challenge.
"It takes just as much effort to score as it does to defend," Jefferson said. "Now that I won't be needed to score 25 points for my team to have a chance, I can go out there, put up whatever numbers come my way, and really focus on the defensive end."
• Jefferson got some bad press as a malcontent early in his lone season with Milwaukee last year. He swears that he is not one to rock the boat.
"There was a little stuff made about me being unhappy, but that was more (about) just being traded from New Jersey," Jefferson said. "I really would have loved to end my career there. When I got traded, I was a little upset. It had nothing to do with the city, or the people. After I got over that shock, I started to enjoy myself."
Reportedly, several of his Milwaukee teammates — including Charlie Villanueva and Andrew Bogut — were sad to see Jefferson go.